Recomendation for first Android Phone

[Hack.The.Pow.]

Hello All. Not sure if this is the right place to be posting this but oh well here goes.

My phone just died on me and I figured I should finally upgrade to an android phone. I am on verizon and would like some suggestions for what phone I could get. I never really paid too much attention to the discussions about android because it never really applied to me.

I'm looking a 4g capable phone, that doesn't have that big of a screen, and has pretty decent battery life. I'll probably root the phone so I'm guessing I would like one that would be easier to do with that. I would like to have a phone with pretty good hardware specs as well.

Anybody have any suggestions?

[collisionystm]

Google now owns Motorola Mobility so a motorola is probably your best bet for android.

BUT

If it were me. I would get


Casio® G'zOne Commando



Casio makes awesome phones and this baby is almost water proof. You can drop it in a swimming pool, throw it across a room and it will still work

[aysiu]

I'd recommend you pre-order a Galaxy Nexus.

Both the Nexus One and Nexus S have had consistently good reviews and have also always been the first phones updated when new versions of Android come out.

They're terribly easy to root and always get good custom roms.

More importantly, they're vanilla Android (no TouchWiz, Sense, or MotoBlur), and also are completely free of Carrier IQ.

[Hack.The.Pow.]

I'd recommend you pre-order a Galaxy Nexus.

Both the Nexus One and Nexus S have had consistently good reviews and have also always been the first phones updated when new versions of Android come out.

They're terribly easy to root and always get good custom roms.

More importantly, they're vanilla Android (no TouchWiz, Sense, or MotoBlur), and also are completely free of Carrier IQ.

Haha yes that is a definite plus that no carrier iq is on there.

The Nexus does look sweet. I saw that it is rumored to come out in the US on December 11th for $200? The price tag is a little big but could be worth it.

Its nice that they're put out from google with Android 4.0 as I've heard horror stories about manufacturers holding back updates which I definitely don't want.

Any suggestions for phones that are out now though?

[3rdalbum]

Any suggestions for phones that are out now though?

HTC has a 4g phone out, I'm sure of it. HTC's Sense user interface is a pleasure to use and its software is excellent.

I would highly recommend NOT buying a Motorola phone. The "Motoblur" user interface sucks up CPU time and battery power like nobody's business. Once you put Cyanogenmod onto a Motorola phone, its battery lasts three times as long and the phone seems to run a lot faster.

AVOID Motorola phones, at least until they get rid of Motoblur.

The Nexus phones are always a good choice.

[Rasa1111]

Samsung Galaxy. -
SII if you wish to be up to date. lol :P ;)
But the Galaxies are awesome. All of them.

[BrokenKingpin]

I was going to recommend the Samsung Galaxy GIO. It is a smaller than the Galaxy S, very good on batter life, and performs pretty good. The only thing is I am not sure it does 4G.

[collisionystm]

If you want samsung

Samsung EPIC 4G

its a galaxy series phone

[Mikeb85]

Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Strait up Android 4.0, 720p screen, 4g, 1.2 ghz dual-core, etc... I'm personally getting one as soon as I can.

[Hack.The.Pow.]

I really want the nexus now but verizon is being lame and not saying when they're going to release it....

[buddyd16]

I picked up a Motorola Droid Razr during the last Amazon $0.01 sale I have had it for just over 2 weeks now and so far have not had any problems. I was going to hold out for the nexus but the more I looked into it the more I noticed that the major advantages are all software related and Motorola has stated the Razr will be getting ICS and I could not refuse a new phone for a penny.

the included smart actions app which lets you set up rules based on triggering actions like which wi-fi network you are connected to keeps the 4g battery drain to a minimum. I am getting just over 38 hrs of light use(fetching email every 15 min, playing words with friends, watching the live stream of the nfl network for about a half-hour, and maybe 1-3 15 minute phone calls)

If you want a pure android phone hold out for the Nexus for sure but if that is not a big deal to you then I can definitely recommend the Razr.

Forgot to mention that the Razr does not have CarrierIQ installed

[Rubykuby]

Nexus S or Galaxy Nexus

Best phones ever. No crapware at all. They're fast, too. And the Nexus S has been really cheap lately and certainly worth its money. It's got a confirmed upgrade to Android 4.0, too.

[CharlesA]

I've got a Samsung Galaxy Prevail. Might not be the best but it is pretty decent.

[Rasa1111]

Happy to see soo much love for the samsung galaxies! :D lol
<3

I just got a Samsung Galaxy player 4.0 (today actually)..
and the thing is brilliant!
better than any ipod ive ever seen or picked up.
I tend not to use phones hardly ever, except for texting..
So I figured a media/internet device-minus the phone part would be perfect.
I can IM/email/voice call/text from my IM..
Pretty much all i wanted/needed. :)
My brother has a Galaxy SII and a galaxy tab, and i love both of those as well. lol :O
Good stuff.

[Hack.The.Pow.]

I picked up a Motorola Droid Razr during the last Amazon $0.01 sale I have had it for just over 2 weeks now and so far have not had any problems. I was going to hold out for the nexus but the more I looked into it the more I noticed that the major advantages are all software related and Motorola has stated the Razr will be getting ICS and I could not refuse a new phone for a penny.


Damn I'm jealous that you got that for a penny. I would totally do that if the deal was still going on.

It's weird though when I was in the verizon store yesterday they didn't have like any of the galaxy phones......

[buddyd16]

yeah I had myself set on the new galaxy nexus and then it kept getting delayed and then that penny deal hit along with double data on verizon through amazon wireless. I went through and re-read every review I could on the razr to see how bad and what kind of negative comments were out there and most of them involved the screen so I stopped by my local verizon store and checked it out for my self and even still cannot see the majority of issues people were claiming about the screen. At the same time though I would not recommend the razr at the $299 price verizon has on it, it is a nice device but I think amazon's last sale price of $199 fits it better with the lower resolution screen and inability to swap out the battery.

[haqking]

I still have my original Google Nexus One (HTC) if god forbid anything ever happened to it i would buy another from ebay, i wouldnt give it up for the world, it is the right balance of screen size, weight, battery life, changeable battery and micro SD, sound is great, camera is great for a phone, by far the best device i have ever owned.

I cannot fault it in anyway for my own personal use and wouldnt trade it in for the Nexus S or the upcoming Galaxy or any of the other current phones available.

Cheers

[Rasa1111]

I am amazed at the battery life of this little Samsung Galaxy player 4.0! :O
I charged it once when I first opened it almost 2 days ago..
and Ive been using it non stop for music, videos, web, etc, since..
and I still have at least half of my battery left. lol
This thing has better battery life than my Thinkpad, Cell phone, and nook!
(maybe even combined) haha :P

Impressive. :O

[Mikeb85]

Well, I thought I was going to get a Galaxy Nexus, but instead I went with the HTC Amaze 4G and I'm very happy with it. It has great specs, build quality seems very good (it has a solid feel, nothing feels cheap or plasticky), and I really like HTC's extras, as well as their design. Also doesn't hurt that it's been confirmed to be among the first HTC phones to get Android 4.0. And despite what some people say, battery life can be very good with the proper power management settings.

After using an iPhone for years, it's very refreshing to use a high end Android. Bigger screen makes for better web browsing, reading on the train for my commute, my stock apps display much more info than their equivalent on iOS, and it's much more customizable and generally usable. No annoyances like iOS was filled with. And transferring music is drag and drop from file folders to the phone, no need to 'sync' or whatever.

All in all, couldn't be happier with my purchase. Also find that now much of what I'd do on the computer, I can do comfortably with the phone now.

[sandyd]

Google Nexus.
http://www.google.com/nexus/

I currently have the Moterola Atrix, but the Google Nexus is what I would change to if the Atrix ever died. I actually have never bought a phone from a carrier itself before to be honest. Ive always gotten them from either the manufactuer, eBay (There are uses for ebay after all), or shops downtown. Those don't have the carrier branding and programs.

[kidcharles]

I've got a new Galaxy Nexus (ordered it from the UK unlocked for the T-Mobile network) and I'm liking it a lot so far. (I'm upgrading from a Nokia N900 with a broken USB port so I'm pretty happy right now.) Screen is huge but phone is thin. I was able to tether on Ubuntu with almost no effort at all.

[Rasa1111]

Same with my samsung galaxy..
tethers to my ubuntu installs effortlessly. :D

[Hack.The.Pow.]

I've got a new Galaxy Nexus (ordered it from the UK unlocked for the T-Mobile network) and I'm liking it a lot so far. (I'm upgrading from a Nokia N900 with a broken USB port so I'm pretty happy right now.) Screen is huge but phone is thin. I was able to tether on Ubuntu with almost no effort at all.

how do you find the size of it? I have small hands and jumping right from the standard flip phone to this seems intimidating.

Also could I buy this off ebay or something somewhere for cheaper? I have the upgrade for verizon and I heard it would be like $300 from them. Also would one from best buy or somewhere have google wallet enabled?

[Rasa1111]

look up the "specs" (specifications) of the device to find the size.
it always tells.

[hopefulkayaker]

I just saw this thread, after buying an HTC Droid Incredible last night. It's not come yet, but I'm pretty excited about it. It will be my first Android phone, and my first smartphone! It seems like a good choice for those of us with limited funds.

[bobsageek]

I've had a Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S on AT&T), Samsung Infuse 4g (fake 4g but gorgeous screen), Samsung Galaxy S II on AT&T and recently switched to Verizon and grabbed a Droid Razr. Blows all the Samsung handsets I've touched away by a long shot, and real 4g is the bomb, as the young people say. 8-)

[Shibblet]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S Phone, also the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 They both work great.

I have returned 3 separate HTC Phones. I have never been impressed with HTC.

I suggest Samsung, but more importantly, I suggest you avoid HTC.

[Mikeb85]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S Phone, also the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 They both work great.

I have returned 3 separate HTC Phones. I have never been impressed with HTC.

I suggest Samsung, but more importantly, I suggest you avoid HTC.

Just curious, but what was wrong with your HTC phones? Defective or you just didn't like them? I'm personally very impressed with mine so far, quality seems spot on...

[Shibblet]

Just curious, but what was wrong with your HTC phones? Defective or you just didn't like them? I'm personally very impressed with mine so far, quality seems spot on...

It was the implementation of HTC's "style" of interface. Too many steps to accomplish single tasks.

[aysiu]

It was the implementation of HTC's "style" of interface. Too many steps to accomplish single tasks.
That's why I always root my HTC phones and install a custom rom... either an AOSP one or Cyanogen Mod.

[Hack.The.Pow.]

look up the "specs" (specifications) of the device to find the size.
it always tells.

I know the specs of it I was just wondering how he liked the size of it. I just want it to be released already!!!!

[Shibblet]

That's why I always root my HTC phones and install a custom rom... either an AOSP one or Cyanogen Mod.

Yeah, I suppose you could do that, and then the "HTC" style interface would be Vanilla Android.

I installed Cognition 5 v2 on my Galaxy S, and I love it.

[Mikeb85]

It was the implementation of HTC's "style" of interface. Too many steps to accomplish single tasks.

Fair enough. I personally like HTC's Sense UI, more than vanilla android or touchwiz... HTC also has nice hardware IMHO...